iMediaConnection Blog » Virginie Glaenzerhttp://blogs.imediaconnection.com
Blogs.imediaconnection.comTue, 31 Mar 2015 05:25:25 +0000http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2enhourly1How do you deal with 24/7 Social Media Crisis and Spike Events?http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2013/01/28/how-do-you-deal-with-247-social-media-crisis-and-spike-events/
http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2013/01/28/how-do-you-deal-with-247-social-media-crisis-and-spike-events/#commentsMon, 28 Jan 2013 14:23:18 +0000Virginie Glaenzerhttp://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2013/01/28/how-do-you-deal-with-247-social-media-crisis-and-spike-events/... Read more]]>Picture this – it’s Friday. You’re on the social media team at work and have sat thru 5 days of meetings, read hundreds of emails, spent countless hours engaging online, had more tasks assigned than you could possibly handle and worked late a couple of nights to make your deadlines. The end of the day is rolling around and you’re looking forward to the weekend, tired, satisfied and ready to unwind.
Ahhhhhh. By 6 pm, your time off has begun.

But here’s a not-so-news flash that we all know: People are online all the time! And it doesn’t really matter to them that you’re going out for a drink with friends or have a night at the movies planned with your family.

You probably have moderation team in place for your Facebook page or Twitter account to cover off-duty hours, and maybe even scheduled some posts for the weekend, so you feel safe.But do you have a 24/7/365 Spike Event plan in place?

What happens if an issue comes up on Friday night or Saturday morning or holidays?
We all need downtime - what if your Community Manager has gone camping, wine tasting or just goes off-line for the weekend?
What happens when YOUR page blows up with activity in off-duty hours?

Spike events come in different flavors

Fortunately, not every type of social media spike event is bad for business.
You might create a brand update or video that goes wildly viral. You may find that your media campaign or an influential publication/blogger features one of your products and creates a demand beyond your ability to fill it — woops! You made a promise to your customers, and people want to know what’s up NOW.
Way on the other side of things, suppose you’re targeted by activists attacking your corporate policies or ingredients used in your product — and those folks are very organized and experienced.

Are you ready with a response for these situations and anything in between?

Some examples

At LiveWorld, we’ve pretty much seen it all and know that a routine announcement or product release can turn into full-blown crises without warning in just a few hours. Here are just a few examples of events that we’ve seen that triggered tens of thousands of posts for our clients in 4 hours or less:

Any of these can cause a massive response from users, and require different approaches, ranging from fast deletion of obscene or harmful posts to brand engagement that acknowledges, informs, explains, apologizes — posted by real people in a conversational tone consistent with both brand culture and issue.

In any case, your short-term strategic objective is to limit the damage done to your brand’s reputation. Ultimately you want to make your customers proud of your response, which deepens their brand loyalty, and impresses potential customers who admire your handling of the situation.

Strategic management means preparation

To be ready when something happens — and it will — prepare for massive scale before it happens and put a strategic plan in place with point people to run it. Here are a few tips:

1) Create guidelines. They need to clearly state what your page is about, what kinds of posts aren’t acceptable, and actions you’ll take on them. Post them quite visibly on your site. Those rules won’t prevent a crisis, but it helps to have them in place as you manage one.

2) Develop a relationship now. Listen to your fans/followers, engage with them, and encourage conversation. That’s going to make it easier for people to listen to you and even defend you when you run into trouble.

3) Listen. Make sure that people who moderate and/or engage also listen closely to what’s happening so they provide an early warning system when a pattern of posting changes or reveals an emerging issue.

4) Tailor an escalation plan. Identify specific roles (individuals and back-ups if they’re out), as well as various levels and categories of response. Ten or fifteen posts about a coupon may not be a crisis for your site, but it could be an indicator of more to come. And it requires a different escalation path than an organized protest. In each case, who gets called? Who makes decisions about responding? How far up the path does the notice go for each category of event you can foresee?

6) Identify your strategic leads. The key components of your response are transparency, engagement, and accountability; you don’t want to disappoint your customers. That said, sometimes the people who’re upset with you aren’t really your customers. In the end, you want to get back to running your business as soon as you can, so you’ll need experienced strategic leadership to navigate the complexity.

Try not to view all customer uprisings through the same lens. Spike events are often a manifestation of fan loyalty — an expression of a proprietary feeling among your customers about the brand, even if they’re disappointed in you. How you decide to handle the issue can turn things around, even if you’re not able to do what people want you to do.

Above all else, time is of the essence. A fast (but carefully crafted) response will prevent a kerfuffle from becoming a crisis, while no reaction at all gives time for a molehill to turn into a mountain.
You’re going to need a strategy and you’re going to need to scale in a hurry. A good plan will greatly reduce the time you spend managing these events, so you can get back to your much-needed time off sooner.

What about you? Does your company have an after-hours and weekend social management plan? Care to share in the comments?

--

This post was written in collaboration with Valerie Sprague a day-to-day contact for clients working with LiveWorld to develop their online communities with specialties are social media management and strategy, copywriting, and metrics analysis to provide actionable insights.

About LiveWorld

LiveWorld, a user content management company, is a trusted partner to the world’s largest brands, including the number-one companies in retail, CPG, pharmaceutical, and financial/travel services. We revolutionize the management of user content through innovative proprietary technology, leading edge services, and deep integration with client marketing and customer support teams. Scaling human review of user content and human touch points, LiveWorld removes obstacles that brands face, allowing them to engage more deeply in social media. In an innovative approach that encompasses review, management, and analysis of user content, LiveWorld provides 24/7 brand protection through “always on” moderation and engagement across social channels, applications, and sites.

]]>http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2013/01/28/how-do-you-deal-with-247-social-media-crisis-and-spike-events/feed/1One Angry Tweet can Destroy Your Brand or Should a Brand Remove User Content?http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2013/01/25/one-angry-tweet-can-destroy-your-brand-or-should-a-brand-remove-user-content/
http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2013/01/25/one-angry-tweet-can-destroy-your-brand-or-should-a-brand-remove-user-content/#commentsFri, 25 Jan 2013 19:14:40 +0000Virginie Glaenzerhttp://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2013/01/25/one-angry-tweet-can-destroy-your-brand-or-should-a-brand-remove-user-content/... Read more]]>All it takes is one hot product, one great ad campaign, one media mishap, or focused attention from a top tweeter, and your Facebook page or forum could be bombarded with comments tomorrow.

Are you ready to deal with the deluge?

The influx --- if it’s positive -- might be welcome, but people who reach out to tell you that they love your product or service want to be and deserve to be acknowledged and thanked.

So many brands in the world, including major brands, have jumped into the social media world without adequate online moderation...or without any at all.

Why? Because:

They think they can handle it on their own

They believe no one else can properly represent the brand and its brand voice

They assume that they’ll never be big enough to need dedicated moderation (that’s small thinking!)

“We can just do it ourselves.”
Some brands try to do everything in-house. The issue here is that online moderation requires a skill-set not necessarily present among the staff, even if they’re experienced social media users. Defusing a flame war or calmly addressing a rapidly escalating customer service issue without taking the criticism personally, and feeling attacked can be a challenge for many brand representatives.
Additionally, even if there are staff members capable of assisting customers online, reading through every single piece of user contributed content, listening for every brand mention and dealing with each aggressive spammer, they’re not necessarily able to do so at 3:00 am or on Christmas Day or the day of the company meeting or picnic.

“Nobody else can speak for us.”
LiveWorld moderators are trained to respond the way you wish to or must legally respond as a brand, from adoption of the proper brand voice to, using pharmaceutical firms as one example, dealing effectively with adverse event reporting, off-brand use, and other concerns.
There are a vast number of public responses brands receive on a regular basis, from the expected: “I’m not happy with this product; do you do refunds?” or “I love your stuff!” and requests for sponsorship and donations from charities, to off-topic posts, automated spam, and suicide and bomb threats. Our team has experience dealing with all of these challenging scenarios, can help you develop a response plan for unexpected social media events, and can escalate items that need immediate attention to senior members of your staff.
Additionally, if your brand is new to social media and isn’t sure where to start with consumer outreach or social media interaction LiveWorld Social Strategy & Content Programming teams will be able to help you find the proper approach.

“We’re not that big...we don’t need a dedicated moderation team.”
Moderation isn’t just about handling negative user-generated content; in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Most brand-hosted communities and pages on social media platforms like Facebook are full of people who do feel an affinity for the brand. There’s a reason why fans of a page are called fans, after all, and it’s not only because that’s a Facebook-defined term.

Most people “like” a brand on Facebook or visit a hosted community because they do like the brand, not because they plan to spend a lot of time and text disparaging it.

“But everybody loves us! Our brand doesn’t attract negativity!”
On the Internet, anyone – or any brand -- can come under fire at some point. All it takes is one disgruntled customer with a lot of friends and followers willing to go to war on their behalf, a few influential people who disagree with your policies, or the traveling army of trolls and spammers always on the lookout for a new place to set up camp.

How will you handle that? Go in and delete everything? There are so many replies to answer, and they’re all over the page. Will you leave some? How will you decide?

Can a Brand Remove User Content?

Certainly, removing customer complaints about a brand are nearly universally regarded as a bad brand practice; deleted comments suggest that the brand is trying to cover up its shortcomings.

However, negative content can also breed more negativity. So dissent is fine, but moderators can help to draw the line between constructive criticism and complaints that the brand should swilftly address to ultimately make fans of those vocal detractors.

The benefit here is that the brand is seen to address complaints fairly and in a helpful fashion, and with the volume of some brand pages, moderation is absolutely necessary if everyone’s concerns are to be addressed in a timely way. This is customer service at its finest.

However, it’s also true that some comments should be removed, on Facebook or hosted communities, because they simply break the rules. They’re spam, or they’re profane, or they attack other users personally via flame wars, or they’re completely off-topic and waste other readers’ time. Experienced moderators are able to deal with these efficiently and defuse explosive situations before they ignite.
Ideally, your customers will be delighted with your brand. As we’ve pointed out, you shouldn’t ignore those people, either! Skilled moderators can encourage positive dialogue, highlight these conversations, respond appropriately, and nurture great relationships between a brand and its customers.

When the Party goes Wrong.
At LiveWorld, we often compare social media destinations to a party, and advise brands on what sort of gathering best exemplifies the mood they wish to convey. A failed party is down to several factors:

The hosts aren’t present to introduce guests and welcome them to the event.
The brand is invisible on its own social media channels, posting links or ads without starting and nurturing conversations.
The mood is “wrong” -- the lighting is poor, there are no snacks, and there isn’t any music. The social content isn’t there and the brand voice is inconsistent.
Boors are allowed to break the rules and show disrespect for the venue and other guests with poor behavior. Spam, flame wars, and personal attacks against other fans and community members are allowed to occur without consequences.
All of these say that a party host -- or a brand -- just doesn’t care if the people who matter – the guests, your customers -- have a good experience.

Proper levels of moderation coupled with a strong social media strategy will make sure your Facebook page, Facebook forum, Google+ circle or any other branded community with your name on it is someplace welcoming, and someplace special.

--

This post was written in collaboration with Valerie Sprague a day-to-day contact for clients working with LiveWorld to develop their online communities with specialties are social media management and strategy, copywriting, and metrics analysis to provide actionable insights.

About LiveWorld

LiveWorld, a user content management company, is a trusted partner to the world’s largest brands, including the number-one companies in retail, CPG, pharmaceutical, and financial/travel services. We revolutionize the management of user content through innovative proprietary technology, leading edge services, and deep integration with client marketing and customer support teams. Scaling human review of user content and human touch points, LiveWorld removes obstacles that brands face, allowing them to engage more deeply in social media. In an innovative approach that encompasses review, management, and analysis of user content, LiveWorld provides 24/7 brand protection through “always on” moderation and engagement across social channels, applications, and sites.

]]>http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2013/01/25/one-angry-tweet-can-destroy-your-brand-or-should-a-brand-remove-user-content/feed/3Brand Approach to Social Media: Where’s the Party?http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2013/01/07/brand-approach-to-social-media-where%e2%80%99s-the-party/
http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2013/01/07/brand-approach-to-social-media-where%e2%80%99s-the-party/#commentsMon, 07 Jan 2013 17:15:06 +0000Virginie Glaenzerhttp://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2013/01/07/brand-approach-to-social-media-where%e2%80%99s-the-party/... Read more]]>As brands have rushed toward social media and now attempt to evaluate what it’s doing for their businesses, we’re all very interested in how it’s going. What are we getting out of it? Who’s doing it best? What are they doing that makes it better?

We’ve always thought of social as a gathering of people — a party that the brand throws for its customers. Sometimes brand execution matches that metaphor, and sometimes it’s really more like plain old advertising or promotional campaigns. The question is, how do people react to what brands put out there, and what do they do about it.

We’ve all been to that party that never took off. Maybe you attend a gathering where you don’t really know the hosts very well, but you feel flattered to be asked; you have high expectations. At least you have some expectations that motivate you to go; maybe other guests you expect to meet, or some announcement or special event in the offing.

But when you get there, no one seems to be in charge. Every now and then someone makes an announcement about where you can find the refreshments, but no one actually speaks to you, welcomes you, or notices you’re there. People tend to sit around the sides, waiting for something to happen (maybe looking at their watches and making comments about needing to leave early because of the babysitter). No life of the party around; no life in the party.

The Party Core

Here’s a way of thinking about it that often works out better:

At the core of a party are the hosts; in the case of social media, the brand. When the brand takes and accepts the host role, you feel it. You sense that someone is present, attentive, and interested in you. Like a good host, the people who speak for the brand are noticing who’s there and interacting with them — involving the guests in the party.

You also sense there’s a program, and someone is making it happen. You can think of this role as the party planner and/or the DJ. Or, in your very own home, it could just be your sister-in-law, who’s letting people know which room has the football game and where the non-fans are playing cards. These folks make sure the guests know what’s going on — what we’re trying to do here. They understand the atmosphere the host wants to create, and they’re helping to make it happen. At a big party, you may even run into numerous helpers, or ushers (or even bouncers), who make sure you’re comfortable and know how to find everything you need.

The Guest Role

At a great party, the guests really get involved. It’s their personalities, their willingness to contribute, and the connections that they make with each other and with the host that really bring the life to the party. When you make the invitation list, you may already know who some of these folks are going to be. For brands, they’re often called ambassadors or evangelists. They like you, and they can be a big help. Most importantly, their charisma and energy influences other guests. They get people talking, they involve people, and they often bring their friends along with them. It’s these folks who most readily pick up on the tone the host is trying to set, and they naturally respond and amplify it. That’s partly because it’s in their nature to be very social; but it’s also partly because they like and support the host — and want to help. Most brands know these people are out there and reach out to them. But it’s not always evident in Facebook or Twitter efforts that brands recognize, value, and encourage these folks as part of their daily conversations. Luckily, these folks will often help out anyway.

Fun is Contagious

Often because of the efforts of the host (the brand), all the party helpers, and the core party participants, the next circle of guests gets enlivened and joins in the fun. And that’s the case if by “fun,” we mean an intense discussion of serious themes. They’re feeling the atmosphere, whatever it is, and participating enthusiastically.

Because of all the good vibes created by this time, even the folks who typically just sit on the sidelines begin to enjoy the party. It’s not necessarily in their natures to be out on the dance floor, but they like the energy and they don’t leave. In the social media world, these might be the readers of your page and the comments that other people post. They don’t necessarily post their own contributions, but they keep reading and they share something from your page now and then with their own friends. They also may buy a lot of your products. Most importantly, they like the atmosphere you’ve created and they’re influenced by the energy of other people. The good news about your party spreads — and that’s good news for your business.

The Party Metaphor Applied

People are more creative when they understand what’s going on — they have boundaries, props, and a sense of culture for a given place. Arriving at a flat venue to read announcements without cultural context is disorienting for people. You have to let people know what your party is about.

Facebook is a great place for this type of creativity. Over the past year, LiveWorld has been helping a major retailer elevate their Facebook presence to one of the most engaged and engaging brand Fan pages on Facebook.

Working closely with the social engagement team, we’ve been able to analyze the participation of the party guests (the fans/posters on the page) and let the host (the brand) know what types of hors d’oeuvres, activities, or music (content such as photos, links, videos, questions, etc.) don’t just get a lot of likes, but result in an on-going dialogue between the guests (the real-life customers) and the social media team. And furthermore, which guests get interested and active about what? In some cases, it has brought to light that certain guests need or deserve more attention and focus.

By gaining insights from staff observations and categorizing of the reactions people have to brand content, the company’s then able to kick the party in overdrive, giving fans of the page more of what they want, and coming back for more. That “want” is satisfied through a well-developed content mix — just like well thought-out progression of event activities or the music mix of a party DJ.

The Social Balance: Analysis and Posting Ratios

When hosting a good party, you can’t play only one genre of music, as you’ll bore anyone not interested in that style of tunes. A smart DJ observes the real-time guest reactions to see what is performing well or not — watching closely to see what’s getting people to dance, but also what’s generating good conversation, and thinking about how to accelerate that interaction. You may never get the wallflowers to leave their cozy corner of the room and get on the dance floor, but you can still keep their interest in the party by playing the hits (good content mix with interesting conversation).

On the web, while posting images of kittens is cute, and “cuteness” always seems to perform well, what does it do for a retailer’s brand? Well, it’s important for recreational relief and adds to brand personality, but in doses appropriate to the brand’s business goals. We’ve found the content mix of 30/40/30 to work best with this company. That is, about 30-percent of the content is social (such as funny images, viral videos, and purely social questions), about 40-percent is brand-related (content that speaks to the core of the company’s identity) and the remaining 30-percent, category-related (relates to a particular category of item the retailer sells — such as clothing style trends — but not necessarily a particular clothing product).

Many brands do better with 30-percent social; 20, brand-related; and 40, category-related. It depends on the brand, what it’s trying to accomplish, and what its constituency is looking for.

Keeping Things on Track

You’d never throw a party, invite people to your home, and then go out to the movies, telling people to lock the door when they leave. That would be way too risky, and certainly wouldn’t meet your goal of connecting with your friends and showing them a good time. You stay and pay close attention to what’s going on, keeping your party moving along the way you intend it to.

Similarly, we work closely with our example retailer to monitor how things are going. This involves hands-on 24/7 personal observation, responding to people socially, thanking them for their positive comments, answering their questions, raising flags when issues arise, and escalating any signs that indicate guests are unhappy, concerned, critical, or not getting along with each other. Those are all signals that the host needs to get involved.

But unless you’re watching closely, you can miss it. When we first got involved with this company, it was thought that getting 2000 comments on a post meant that they should do more of that kind of post. However, when a little elbow and grease and analysis was applied, it turned out that 1600 of the posts were off-topic and 1300 of them were negative. Clearly something needed to change.

In this case, close attention to topic mix and addition of prompt brand interaction reduced off-topic and/or negative posts over a short period of time.

Often, things can be turned around by a brand participating closely: recognition and acknowledgment for people who have problems, helping them get resolution, or even just moving a topic back on track when it’s gotten derailed. Even kidding around with people is helpful; people appreciate being heard. We’ve seen that when such attention and intervention is in place, negative comments have gone down dramatically over short periods of time.

It’s Still About the Business

In the party metaphor as it is applied in a real-world example, it’s all about the relationship the retailer has formed with its online audience — which consequently turns into real-life dollars at the store level. That’s because people stay tuned in for the interactions as well as the brand announcements. A connection forms — not only with brand, but more importantly with the fun, energy, and activity around the brand. People don’t like to miss out

Today, most companies and their digital agencies have run toward Facebook with a promotion. They build a fan-count base, rather than building a relationship structure. Now that’s typical in new-media form, and there’s a lot more talk now about which is better: 10 million fans, or 10 million that you engage with?

But really, the right question is, which is better: 10 million fans, or 1 million fans that actually engage with you?
This post was written in collaboration with Valerie Sprague, a day-to-day contact for clients working with LiveWorld to develop their online communities with specialties are social media management and strategy, copywriting, and metrics analysis to provide actionable insights.
-- This post was written in collaboration with Ryan Morris, Director of Community Programming at LiveWorld.

About LiveWorld

LiveWorld, a user content management company, is a trusted partner to the world’s largest brands, including the number-one companies in retail, CPG, pharmaceutical, and financial/travel services. We revolutionize the management of user content through innovative proprietary technology, leading edge services, and deep integration with client marketing and customer support teams. Scaling human review of user content and human touch points, LiveWorld removes obstacles that brands face, allowing them to engage more deeply in social media. In an innovative approach that encompasses review, management, and analysis of user content, LiveWorld provides 24/7 brand protection through “always on” moderation and engagement across social channels, applications, and sites.

'Cause it is my favorite holiday
But all this year's been a busy blur
Don't think I have the energy

- The Waitresses, Christmas Wrapping

For brands large and small, customer service conducted online and via social media is crucial, and this time of year, it’s an even bigger deal.

Going above and beyond for your customers is integral to all businesses, even more so during the holiday season. Here’s why:

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: The holidays are big for most brands, from the true meaning of Black Friday to accelerated gift and service purchasing. People are shopping and spending, and you’re competing for both dollars and loyalty.

…and the most stressful: Your customers balance work, family, and social obligations all year long. This time of year, add meal and party planning, finding the perfect gifts and getting them there on time, dealing with kids’ wants and needs, possibly inclement weather, travel, holiday visitors and juggling an expanded social calendar to the list.

…and the media are watching: Fail to ship by the promised holiday date and ruin a child’s holiday? Did your website crash because your Facebook promotion was TOO successful? Have a confusing layaway or gift return policy? Accidentally do something Grinch-like? Unfortunately, disappointed customers are very vocal, and your brand could easily make the news over a bad risk, online or off.

There are several ways you can position your brand as a trailblazer via social media throughout the holiday season. These proven methods will keep you and your customers cheerful, while positioning your brand as a customer service leader. Here are our 6 Holiday Commandments:

1. Listen

Use all the tools available to monitor your social networks. Should any problems arise (a misquoted price on a holiday flyer, advertised items that are out of stock, people complaining about your franchise’s horrible, or too-loud Christmas music), you had better believe that someone will voice their complaints via social media. While they might bring the issue to you, more than likely they will just mention the brand on a public platform. Either way, you’ll need to be aware of what is being said before it spreads.

2. Reach out

If someone is blogging or posting about your brand on your Facebook fan page or tweeting about a customer service issue, address it: Ignoring complaints is a luxury you don’t have when your competitors are tackling similar problems in a timely fashion through social media.

Don’t have the staff available to sift through customer feedback posts on your wall? There’s a simple solution: Add staff. You might be adding extra personnel to handle the holiday rush on the sales floor, or an uptick in catalog ordering calls, but don’t forget about your customers’ online transactions and interaction experiences. These are just as important.

3. Fix the problem if you can

If the issue being raised is something you can do something about, then do something about it. Today’s customer now turns to online venues to voice their feedback or complaints rather than marching into a store to speak with a manager. Either that, or they do both. More than likely they will still take their issues online and will talk about whatever problem was/wasn’t handled successfully in person. Regardless of the avenue taken, if the complaint occurs on social media, others can see it, and others can also see your response. Do follow policy, but make sure you’re consistent, fair, and kind to those who air their complaints.

Regardless of whether or not you can fix the issue (take care of a return or honor a holiday travel reservation after a mix-up) or you can’t (due to long lines in busy stores during peak hours or an out of stock product due to high demand) you would be wise to follow these six customer service Holiday commandments.

4. Empathize

Let your customers know that you relate to the issues they raise on a human level, because you should. You’re in charge of a brand, but a brand is made up of the people who stand behind it. It’s far too easy to become defensive; you’re proud of your brand and all it has to offer, but we’ve all been disappointed by a company we normally like after something has gone awry. Put yourself in the shoes of an unhappy customer and demonstrate sincere concern when things go wrong.

5. Apologize

If something doesn’t work out in your in your customer’s favor, say you’re sorry. A genuine apology really does go a long way.

6. Make it better

Fix the problem. Give the customer a credit or gift card. It’s the spirit of the season; Giving and making things right is one of the costs of doing business. You can make the best impression on an upset customer by going out of your way to make them happy.

Most of the time, social media crises that brands have to deal with aren’t minor hit-and-run trolling attacks. Sometimes they are just pranks by bored students or comments from a social ambassador from a competitor. However, legitimate complaints from individual customers about product issues, problems that haven’t received adequate customer service attention, misunderstandings, or legitimate objections to policies or advertising, must be addressed. Quickly and proactively.

These social media techniques have proven highly impactful for our clients, especially during peak shopping seasons. Our team of 24/7 human moderators are on standby to help with any of your social media needs – and anything the Internet throws your way over the next few months. We can help you to respond under any and all circumstances with efficiency, grace, and even a dash of holiday cheer!

Call to action: What has your holiday customer service experience been? How could your social media interactions improve? Whether good or bad, we want to hear from you!
----------------

This post was written in collaboration with Valerie Sprague, a day-to-day contact for clients working with LiveWorld to develop their online communities with specialties are social media management and strategy, copywriting, and metrics analysis to provide actionable insights.

LiveWorld, a user content management company, is a trusted partner to the world’s largest brands, including the number-one companies in retail, CPG, pharmaceutical, and financial/travel services. We revolutionize the management of user content through innovative proprietary technology, leading edge services, and deep integration with client marketing and customer support teams. Scaling human review of user content and human touch points, LiveWorld removes obstacles that brands face, allowing them to engage more deeply in social media. In an innovative approach that encompasses review, management, and analysis of user content, LiveWorld provides 24/7 brand protection through “always on” moderation and engagement across social channels, applications, and sites.

]]>http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2013/01/02/the-six-holiday-commandments-for-exceptional-customer-service/feed/0Taking the Fright out of Social Brand Managementhttp://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2012/10/30/taking-the-fright-out-of-social-brand-management/
http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2012/10/30/taking-the-fright-out-of-social-brand-management/#commentsTue, 30 Oct 2012 17:15:41 +0000Virginie Glaenzerhttp://blogs.imediaconnection.com/?p=20188... Read more]]>With Halloween on the way, treats are something to look forward to, but the real challenge for brands is effectively dealing with the tricks.

Social media pranks -- small, thoughtless ones as well as those perpetrated by dedicated online trolls -- can spur a real crisis for any brand, so it’s important to be prepared just in case this occurs at any time of year.

The Ding Dong Ditch: Attacks on a brand on its social platform -- spam posts, NSFW pic spams, false accounts of poor customer service or faulty products.

The Smell My Feet: Attempts to force a brand to respond to ridiculous queries for the “humor value.”

Any major brand can present a great big bull’s-eye for trickery, and by that we mean tricks by those who do not have a legitimate customer service concern or complaint, but who wish to “score points” against a brand for other reasons.

There are several reasons why a brand might be targeted by trolls and pranksters:

It has a high profile
Brands with high on and off-line recognition possess significant cachet as targets. It’s more fun for trolls to force attention from a large company than on the beauty salon in their hometown with 200 Facebook fans, and it rewards them with more notoriety for their efforts.

It listens (and responds)
Ironically, a major brand that’s doing things right -- “out there” in the social media world, using Facebook, Twitter, G+, Pinterest, blogs, a hosted community, or any other social platform to open a dialogue with its customers -- is more vulnerable. This is because pranksters know that the brand is listening to what they have to say, and can release the hounds of hell their minions to compound the impact of an egregious falsehood about a product or service issue.

Pranksters can gain reputational value among their peers by damaging yours
Our modern culture often celebrates schadenfreude, snark, tasteless memes, and the public downfall of a big name celebrity, politician or major brand. On a more limited level, some online communities exist purely to celebrate successful trolling attempts.

Pranksters are angry about something else
They might be upset at corporations in general, a bad day, lack of attention, or cold coffee. Or they might have a grudge against your brand because they were employed at one of your locations and things didn’t work out. Or your logo just bothers them.

Boredom
School’s out for the day.

What if it’s not a prank? We recommend the following top four best practices:

1. Listening: Let a moderation team monitor dialogue involving your brand in social media venues on a 24/7 basis to escalate issues when appropriate.

2. Responding: Social media strategy and content experts should craft appropriate responses to online attacks, whether they’re the work of pranksters or customers with everyday legitimate needs and issues that should be addressed. It’s key to be able to differentiate between a real issue and a prank; do you have the bandwidth do to this every time?

3. Planning: Do you have a Social Media Crisis Plan? How will you react if your brand is attacked? Do you know how to minimize the impact of online mischief? Who’s in charge of dealing with the fallout? Will you be able to measure the social impact on your business? Do you have a strategy to come back stronger after the attack?

4. Navigating (the unwritten rules of Social Media and brand response): Dealing with a crisis brought on by trolling or social attacks poorly can bring on more negative attention -- like deleting comments or “scrubbing” a Facebook wall of what appears to other customers to be legitimate criticism, or apologizing “the wrong way” when you really need to. Make sure to avoid these common gaffes and hit the right note with your response.
Most of the time, the social media crises brands must deal with aren’t minor hit-and-run trolling attacks or pranks by bored students, but legitimate complaints from individual customers about product issues, problems that haven’t received adequate customer service attention, misunderstandings, or legitimate objections to policies or advertising.

What’s your experience? We want to hear from you.

This post was written in collaboration with Valerie Sprague a day-to-day contact for clients working with LiveWorld to develop their online communities with specialties are social media management and strategy, copywriting, and metrics analysis to provide actionable insights.